March 2011

March 31, 2011

A while ago (and by "while" I mean years) I read about a couple crafters making pincushion rings from the inside pull-ring of drink containers. Immediately I wanted one and started saving pull-rings left and right. But I never got around to it at the time. I don't know, maybe the new baby had something to do with it (Willa would have been about 8 months.) But in the meantime, pretty much every time I pulled one of the rings out of a container, I would think to myself "Really need to make that pincushion ring..." So, yeah, once or twice a week for three years I had this thought. I win at procrastination.

Recently I started making a dress and found myself in need of a better pincushion and thought, IT IS TIME. I started out by needle felting a tomato. Or, more accurately, a traditional tomato pincushion. Side note: do you know why traditional pincushions are shaped like a tomato? I didn't know so I looked it up. Apparently it used to be a custom to display a ripe tomato on the mantle of a new house for good luck. Since ripe tomatoes were often hard to come by people would use red fabric balls filled with sand. And then after a while they'd get pins stuck in them and become pincushions. The end.

I chose needle felting because I like the way felted wool holds pins. But you could also stuff some fabric with fill or wool and glue it to the ring-pull. (There's a good tutorial here for that technique.) Needle felting is pretty easy to pick up and the supplies are simple and affordable. If you're interested in learning more check out this comprehensive tutorial I found.

I used Glue Dots (I swear I don't work for them) to affix the pull-ring but you could hot glue or probably use tacky glue too. Glue Dots worked because I was planning on felting over the plastic.

Gilding the lily a little, but it makes the ring more comfortable. If you use fabric you could glue or sew a cover over the plastic disc.

Voilà! I've been using it for a couple days now and it works great. I love the way it turned out.